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How to Be a Detective (1936) [NR]

Featuring:
Robert Benchley, Arthur Hoyt, Dewey Robinson

Written by:
Robert Benchley
Robert Lees
Frederic I. Rinaldo

Directed by:
Felix E. Feist


Release Date:
October 17, 1936

Original Title:
How to Be a Detective

Genres:
Comedy | Crime

Production Companies:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Production Countries:
United States of America

Ratings / Certifications:
US: NR 

Runtime: 9

Overview from TheMovieDB

This Robert Benchley 'How To' comedy short attempts to teach us how to profile criminals by physical characteristics.

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Overview from Open Movies

A man is giving a lecture on how to be a detective. The first section of the lecture deals with identifying criminals, where he asks a sketch artist to compile a composite of the complete criminal based on the stereotypical features of several different known criminals, and the types of crimes they generally commit. The second section deals with how to catch a criminal. As luck would have it, he gets a call about a crime, which he uses as real life case study. Luck is perhaps what he really needs to catch the criminal. The third section deals with getting a confession. He demonstrates his approach to questioning a suspect, where he often gets more information than he anticipates. The fourth and final section deals with how to get a conviction. Although that is a role of the police, a good detective always likes to have a hand in that conviction. The lecturer shows definitively in this section why crime does not pay.

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Rankings and Honors

How to Be a Detective (1936) on IMDb
Internet Movie Database 5.5/10

Performers

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Production

Director:
Felix E. Feist

Writer:
Robert Benchley
Robert Lees
Frederic I. Rinaldo

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